Modern Languages and Literatures – Italian

College of Liberal & Creative Arts

Interim Dean: Dr. Sophie Clavier

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Humanities Building, Room 475
Phone: (415) 338-1421
Website: mll.sfsu.edu/italian-program

Chair: Charles Egan
Program Coordinator: Olivia Albiero
Undergraduate Advisor: Olivia Albiero
Graduate Advisor: Olivia Albiero

Program Scope

The Italian program offers courses in the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and understanding Italian; a broad and comprehensive background in literature, culture, civilization, and Italian studies as well as preparation for a specialized career. Many students study Italian to become language teachers. Others, studying music, art, film, archaeology, international relations, history, business, and comparative literature, as well as students planning to become translators and interpreters, have discovered the usefulness of Italian. Some take Italian purely for cultural enrichment. The study of Italian is particularly rewarding for those of Italian heritage. It also opens the doors to the CSU International Program Center in Florence, to various Italian art and professional academies, and to Italian universities where students can pursue studies in any field.

Associate Professor

Olivia Albiero (2016), Associate Professor in Modern Languages and Literatures. Ph.D. University of Washington.

Major

Minor

Explanation of Course Descriptions, Symbols, and Terms

ITAL 100 First Semester Italian for Speakers of English and Spanish (Units: 4)

Designed especially for those who already speak Spanish and English, though it is open to all students. Understanding, speaking, reading and writing the Italian language. Basic elements of Italian culture. Acquisition of communicative skills in situational and cultural contexts.

Course Attributes:

  • Global Perspectives
  • C2: Humanities

ITAL 101 First Semester Italian (Units: 4)

Understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Italian and Italian culture; language as a communicative medium and carrier of culture.

Course Attributes:

  • C2: Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

ITAL 102 Second Semester Italian (Units: 4)

Prerequisite: ITAL 101 or equivalent.

Continuation of ITAL 101.

Course Attributes:

  • C2: Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

ITAL 103 Third Semester Italian (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 102 or equivalent.

Reinforcement of language structure; literary styles and techniques in Italian.

Course Attributes:

  • C2: Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

ITAL 104 Fourth Semester Italian (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 103 or equivalent.

Selected reading material in Italian literature.

Course Attributes:

  • C2: Humanities
  • Global Perspectives

ITAL 206 Italian Conversation (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 102 or equivalent. May be taken concurrently with ITAL 103 or ITAL 104.

Development of listening and speaking skills through vocabulary exercises, conversation, and oral reports based on aspects of contemporary Italian culture.

Course Attributes:

  • C2: Humanities
  • Global Perspectives
  • Social Justice

ITAL 250 Food for Thought: The Importance of Food in Italian Culture (Units: 3)

Focus on the significance of food in Italian society and culture and its representations in literature, art, and film. Exploration of how Italian food relates to questions of history, politics, economy, identity, and movement. Taught in English. All materials are available in English.

Course Attributes:

  • Global Perspectives
  • C2: Humanities

ITAL 305 Advanced Grammar and Composition (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 104 or equivalent.

Analysis of grammatical constructions. Exercises in style.

ITAL 350 Advanced Oral and Reading Practice (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing or consent of the instructor.

Expansion of ability to read and interpret selected plays, poems, and prose writings. May be repeated once when material changes.

ITAL 401 Italian Culture and Civilization (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 104 or equivalent.

Background for literature.

ITAL 500 Topics in Italian Literature and Culture (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area E or permission of the instructor.

Topics centered on Italian literary and cultural works, which are read, watched, and discussed in English. Topics to be specified in the Class Schedule. May be repeated when topics vary. [Taught in English]

Topics:

  1. New Voices in Italian Literature
  2. Crime in Italian Literature & Film
  3. Italian Journeys: Writing Travels in Lit & Culture

ITAL 510 Italian Literature: Early Period (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 104 or equivalent.

Literature from its origins to the middle of the 16th century. Representative works and movements.

ITAL 511 Italian Literature: Late Period (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 104 or equivalent.

Literature from the middle of the 16th century to the present. Representative works and movements.

ITAL 525 Literature of the Risorgimento (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents.

Analysis of texts from representative figures such as Parini, Alfieri, Foscolo, Leopardi, Manzoni, etc.

ITAL 530 Renaissance Prose/Poetry (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: ITAL 510 and ITAL 511.

Analysis of selected readings from representative prose writers and poets of the Italian Renaissance (Machiavelli, Guicciadini, Castiglione, Poliziano, Ariosto, for example). Focus on dominating ideas, trends. Attention also given to social, political, and artistic background.

ITAL 550 The Italian Theatre (Units: 3)

Prerequisites for ITAL 850: Italian MA students; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511; or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites for ITAL 550: Upper-division standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

Plays selected from playwrights from the Renaissance to today studied and interpreted as salient points of the history of theatre.
(ITAL 850/ITAL 550 is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.)

ITAL 560 The Italian Novel (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents.

Trends as seen through the works of Manzoni, Nievo, Verga, D'Annunzio, Svevo, and writers of the present period.

Course Attributes:

  • Global Perspectives

ITAL 570 Italian Women Writers: 13th to 20th Centuries (Units: 3)

Prerequisite for ITAL 870: Graduate standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites for ITAL 570: Upper-division standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

Selections of prose and poetry by Italian women writers from the 13th to the 20th century. From Compiuta Donzella to the 1926 Nobel prize winner, Grazia Deledda, and the major novelists of the modern period.
(ITAL 870/ITAL 570 is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.)

ITAL 580 Great Figures in Italian Literature (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents.

Rotating course focused on the works and ideas of one or more authors who gave significant shape to Italian thought during their times. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. May be repeated when different authors are studied.

Course Attributes:

  • Global Perspectives

Topics:

  1. Sciascia/Ginzburg/Calvino/Morazzoni
  2. Moravia, Buzzati, Pavese, Morante

ITAL 581 Divina Commedia (Units: 3)

Prerequisite for ITAL 881: Italian MA students or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites for ITAL 581: Upper-division standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

Analysis of selected cantos integrated with relevant information on medieval literature, poetics, scholasticism, classical tradition, and socio-political structure of Dante's world.
(ITAL 881/ITAL 581 is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.)

ITAL 600 Italian Literature on Film in English (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: GE Area E.

Analysis of four literary texts representative of differing aspects of Italian culture from the 1990s to the present and the filmic versions of them.

ITAL 600GW Italian Literature on Film - GWAR (Units: 3)

Prerequisites: Upper-division Italian majors; GE Area A2; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

Comparative analyses of cinematic and literary narrative texts, both of which focus on seminal moments in Italian historical and cultural development from peasant society in the 19th century to urban criminal organization in the early 21st century. [Taught in English.] (ABC/NC grading only)

Course Attributes:

  • Graduation Writing Assessment
  • Global Perspectives

ITAL 699 Independent Study (Units: 1-3)

Prerequisite: ITAL 104 or equivalent.

Intensive concentration upon special topics in Italian. Written projects requiring critical analysis, and interpretation of linguistic or literary problems. Material adapted to individual needs and interests. May be repeated for a total of 9 units.

ITAL 830 Seminar: Italian Literature of the 19th Century (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: Admission to Italian program or consent of instructor.

Romanticism, Risorgimento, and Verismo, particularly as they affect literary problems of the 20th century and the search for a national language.

ITAL 850 The Italian Theatre (Units: 3)

Prerequisites for ITAL 850: Italian MA students; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511; or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites for ITAL 550: Upper-division standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

Plays selected from playwrights from the Renaissance to today studied and interpreted as salient points of the history of theatre.
(ITAL 850/ITAL 550 is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.)

ITAL 870 Italian Women Writers: 13th to 20th Centuries (Units: 3)

Prerequisite for ITAL 870: Graduate standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites for ITAL 570: Upper-division standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

Selections of prose and poetry by Italian women writers from the 13th to the 20th century. From Compiuta Donzella to the 1926 Nobel prize winner, Grazia Deledda, and the major novelists of the modern period.
(ITAL 870/ITAL 570 is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.)

ITAL 880 Seminar: Individual Authors (Units: 3)

Prerequisite: Admission to Italian program or permission of instructor.

Rotating mostly monographic graduate seminars focused on the works and times of authors that defined significant periods of Italian culture. Author or authors to be specified in Class Schedule. May be repeated when different authors are studied.

Topics:

  1. Luigi Pirandello
  2. The Italian Short Story
  3. Giovanni Verga (Verismo)
  4. Boccaccio
  5. Migliorini and Devoto
  6. Italo Calvino
  7. Petrarch and Trecento

ITAL 881 Divina Commedia (Units: 3)

Prerequisite for ITAL 881: Italian MA students or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites for ITAL 581: Upper-division standing; ITAL 510 and ITAL 511 or equivalents; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

Analysis of selected cantos integrated with relevant information on medieval literature, poetics, scholasticism, classical tradition, and socio-political structure of Dante's world.
(ITAL 881/ITAL 581 is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.)

ITAL 896EXM Culminating Experience Examination (Units: 0-3)

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor, committee chair, and approval of Advancement to Candidacy (ATC) and Culminating Experience (CE) forms by Graduate Studies. ATC and Proposal for Culminating Experience Requirement forms must be approved by the Graduate Division before registration.

Enrollment in 896EXAM required for students whose culminating experience consists of an examination only. Not for students enrolled in a culminating experience course numbered 892, 893, 894, 895, 898, or 998, (or in some cases, courses numbered 890 - see program's graduate advisor for further information). (CR/NC, RP)

ITAL 899 Independent Study (Units: 1-3)

Prerequisites: Italian Graduate students; permission of the graduate major adviser and supervising faculty member; or consent of the instructor.

Study is planned, developed, and completed under the direction of a member of the department faculty. Open only to graduate students who have demonstrated the ability to do independent work. Enrollment by petition. May be repeated for a total of 6 units.